and a good sunday afternoon to you. i'm craig melvin. you're watching msnbc, the place for politic, and we start with boston and the questions left unanswered. >> the big unknown is still that six months, a little over six months, in russia. >> there are persons of interest in the united states. we're looking at phone calls before and after the bombing. >> who knew what, and when did they know? and what's being done to prevent the next attack? >> thank you. thank you. thank you. from the bottom of my heart. >> montana's max baucus makes the sixth democratic senator to

say no thanks to another term in washington. what will that mean for 2014, plus, the president taking time out to make fun of himself, the press, and lots of others at the annual white house correspondents' dinner. >> in fact, i'm taking my charm offensive on the road. a texas barbecue with ted cruise, kentucky blue crass concert with rand paul, and a book burning with michele bachmann. >> here are today's political headlines. the investigation to the boston bombing opened up a controversy on capitol hill over the fbi's 2000 investigation, 2011 investigation, into one of the bombing suspects. michigan republican congressman mike rogers said this morning we need to know more. >> i think it's too early to start pointing fingers and blame. remember, they're right in the middle of an investigation. if you look at what they did in

2011, at the end of the day, they had n derogatory information including all data bases. >> all data bases. and interviews. at some point the fbi just doesn't get to investigate americans or people here who harry legally just because they want to. >> supreme court just it stephen breyer is recovering this sunday afternoon. he had emergency shoulder surgery. the 74-year-old justice was hurt when he fell off his bicycle friday afternoon. and senator john mccain on "meet the press" this morning said the obama administration needs to act on syria now. >> the syrian people are angry and bitter at the united states. i was in a refugee camp in jordan, and there are thousands of people and kids, and this woman who's a schoolteacher said, senator mccain, you see these children here? they're going to take revenge on those people who refused to help them. >> for more, let's bring in jackie kucinich from "the

washington post," and others. let me start with you. you've spent time in the middle east. some quite unpleasant to say the least. were you kidnapped in afghanistan, you were held captive by the taliban for seven months. you have a new book out called ebeyond war "and you look at, among other things, the future of the middle east. what red flags does increasing involvement in syria what red flags does that raise? >> the talk of u.s. ground troops. i think we've been too military in our whole response since 9/11. you need to sometimes use lethal force against thee guys, i know. they kidnapped me. they're delusional, but we've not done well with the with the region. a lot of different approaches to take. we just think, do we invade or do nothing? i think there's more options than that. >> other options like -- >> well, in syria, one thing we've been incredibly slow. this is where washington harms

our foreign policy. i was speaking this morning with someone from the administration. they've been trying to get basic things to the syrian national coalition. the new opposition group of more moderate people. they -- a proposal to give them ambulances, generators, search and rescue equipment when the scud missiles quit. wr e so terrified giving aid to any islamist it takes us forever to actually deliver the aid. bite time we actually gelt our aid and try to bolster moderates, all those on the ground have started growing beards and gee hauftist come in, decisive, throw money around. but everyone in the state department is so afraid and the white house of slipping up and creating an opportunity that the republicans will pounce on, and the press, too, that we're just pa paralyzed, tied in knots. >> the red line comment many times over the use of chemical weapons in syria. has the white house painted itself into a corner now that there's an acknowledgement chemical weapons have likely been used by the regime?

>> yes. receiving a lot of pressure from congress. we're already seeing it. the other thing, the public will start getting involved. if chemical weapons are used if there is not, 73% don't agree with military intervention. that completely flips. a "washington post" abc poll from, from december 2012. it completely flips. 63% of people then support some kind of intervention, if chemical weapons of used. once the see the public polling with newer polls, if chemical weapons are being used, the white house, to their satisfaction, i guess. i think you'll start seeing public pressure on this too. when they'll have to start addressing it. >> maeve, senator mccain, one of the most vocal critics from that white house with regards to a policy on syria. at what point dot we hear more criticisms from the gop over the

obama camp towards this? >> they're walking a very fine line. jackie mentioned, you have a very war wary public after the wars in iran and iraq. as we've seen over the last couple of year, the vast majority of americans want more of a focus on u.s. policy issues. you have the boston bombings over the last two weeks. that's really where americans are going to be focused. so how far do the gop senators want to go with this? we'll see hawks like lindsey graham and john mccain talking a lot about this, but it's not clear yet to the extent to which this is captured the interest of the american people. >> pivot to boston and talk about the investigation. david, your perspective on the radicalization. you have a unique perspective. were you held specifically in the tribal areas of pakistan for about seven months. what did you discover about the militants who were holding you captive, and what can we glean

from your experience about the process of radicalization? >> it takes time. i think americans are very frightened that these brothers somewhat seem, more so the younger brother, all-american and the next day are setting off bomb. it takes time, and people shouldn't panic and overreact. there really is an alternate reality that you live in when you watch these videos. you can access them online. they really, these mill trants really believe the u.s. launched a worldwide conspiracy with christians, hindus to obliterate islam from the face of the earth. br great in boston, they haven't taken the bait. there was one incident of a woman being punched and assaulted by a man. otherwise, there hasn't been hate crime against the islamic community. the goal, create a religious war. make us blame all muslims and discriminate against them, end immigration reform. all that plays into their hands in my view. >> jackie, we're starting to

hear criticisms of the fbi over their handling of a 2011 inquiry into the dead alleged bomber, the older brother. the older tsarnaev brother. this is peter king on "meet the press" this morning. take a listen. >> i think it's important to know, are there other people involved in this threat? others that are still out there? family member, people in the community? that's very important to find out. also, what caused him to radicalize? done here, overseas? over the internet? what caused that to happen? how can we stop it's in the future and how the fib sfib not cooperating, by they did not give vital evidence to the nypd about another possible attack. >> right now, jackie, the attention continues to be focused, for the most part, on the investigation. is it just a matter of time before the debate deteriorates into a more partisan blame game? >> well, i mean, that's always possible with this congress, as we nope. it's happened with a lot of issues. you don't see it from everyone on the finger-pointing quite

yet. you saw mike rogers in thely. talking how he doesn't -- he thought the fbi did a fine job in 2011, and with the caveat that the investigation is stig going on. once that wraps up we'll see that. it's too soon to tell. >> the boston attack, david just alluded to, they are starting to have folks question moving ahead with immigration reform. the "new york times" quoting this morning, senator ron paul saying in part, "we should not proceed until we understand the specific failures of our immigration system." why did the current system allow individuals to immigrate to the united states from the chechen republic in josh an area known at a hot bed of islamic extremism? are we seeing new voices in washington trying to hold off on immigration reform or are some of the same folks po s poo, poo the process the same as before? >> it's given the opposition

another topic to talk about on immigration. so far we have not seen the public really make a connection between the boston bombings suspects and the immigration bill that's moving its way through congress. you also will have folks on the right, lindsey graham and others, making the argument that what happened in boston is an example of why immigration reform should move forward, because you had national security lapses, and if there had been a more unified connection and communication between the different agencies, then there could have been more done to stop these guys. if that argument will fly, we don't know yet, but i think that what we've seen recently is a very strong trend towards americans, more and more americans supporting immigration reform, and it's just too early to tell whether there's going to be a real connection between what happened in boston and the bill. >> maeve, "los angeles times," jackie, big thanks to you all. appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> thank you, appreciate it. coming up, the boston

bombings and america's involvement around the world. are they connected? if so, how? plus, later, the president. push for preschool. we'll meet a kindergartner's who's actually a certified genius. literally. and this -- >> there's a gavel here, and i don't know why. >> conan. taking on hollywood. hollywood, washington, lovefest. otherwise known as the nerd prom. highlights from the white house correspondents' dinner ahead. this is msnbc. [ kate ] many women may not be absorbing the calcium they take

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i can't believe we got invited, and it's, cool to be here and i'm excited to see the show. >> i was there. he wore that outfit all night.

and the white house red carpet last night, guests of cbn news. a night of glitz and glamour. comedy took center stage and a chance for the president to poke fun at himself and the press that covers washington. ♪ >> get together, hollywood and -- >> my man. >> thank you, everybody. how do you like my new entrance music? rush limbaugh warned you about this. second term, baby. >> tonight i'm excited to announce that turner broadcasting is going to make a major television miniseries about the big power players here in washington. vice president joe biden is going to be played by bob barker. paul ryan will be played by mr.

bean. secretary of state john kerry will be played by an easter island head. >> i look in the mirror and have to admit, i'm not the strapping young muslim socialist that i used to be. i understand second term, need a burst of new energy. try some new things, and then my team and i talked about it. we're willing to try anything, so we borrowed one of michelleal tricks. i went to the opening of the bush presidential library in dallas, it was a wonderful event, and that inspired me to get started on my own legacy which will actually begin by building another edifice right next to the bush library. can we show that, please.

>> i go out on the basketball court. took 22 shots. made two of them. that's right. two hits, 20 misses. the executives at nbc asked, what it's your secret? >> the executives at nbc were not laughing at that joke. lots of nbc jokes last night, but there were serious moments as well. both the president and conan o'brien took time to remember the victims of the boston tragedy. dangerous flooding. 51 rescue calls in one southern city. a sudden rising waters that leave drivers stranded. this is msnbc. my mother made the best toffee in the world.

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bombing continues. lawmakers calling for investigations to determine if the two known suspects did, in fact, act alone. there have been some controversial views voiced over what drove the boston bombers, and others, who have attempted to attack american targets. columnist greenwald writes, muslims who recently attempted or carried out terror plots have this in common -- "they emphatically all say the same thing. motivated by the continuous horrific violence brought by the united states and its allies to the muz lyme world. violence which routinely kills innocent men, women and children." and joining us by phone, and here in the studio, a former cia officer. glen, let me start with you again by phone. we wanted you via skype.

technical problems. what about these remarks? intended to inflame or provoke xu discussion? >> neither. consistent attacking the united states, they all say essentially the same thing, that the united states has continued to drone, bomb, invade, occupy, imprison and torture countless people in the muslim world, and that people in that part of the world and muslims who identify with it have concluded that the only way to make that stop, the only way to fulfill their notions of justice is to bring violence to the united states so that americans can see the effects of that which they're causing in other parts of the world, and i think we need to face up to what it is that we're doing to inflame this problem and continue to mode vat the anti-american sentiment that causes terrorism in the first place. >> terrorism and causation are two very different things? >> the fact of the matter, you

really can look at these things in the way he's doing it. deeply iningens with to suggest fighting is in fact the cause of terrorism. there's a grievance collection that goes on particularly with the jihadist community. one a selective historical memory. talks about in his column, which i read, iraq and afghanistan. fact, looking a the writings of czar cz unrestricted war fair against anyone american and any israeli or jew, anywhere in the world. the notion this is somehow justified, of course, they want to justify it in their minds, but there is no justification for these acts and they will always find another grievance for this kind of terror. >> glenn, what's your response to that? >> well, i am pretty sure that anybody who has ever working the for the cia probably knows that the united states violence and interference and aggression in the muslim world didn't begin after 9/11. it's been going on for decades, because the centerpiece of

american policy, dominate that region, dictate how it runs in order to secure our access and protect israeli interests. so if you go back into 1990, a sanctions regime on iraq by estimates of the u.n. and other medical researchers killed several hundred thousand iraqi children. we prop up dictators, overturned their democrat dick electiic el you have to ask, why are there dozen of countries in the world that aren't being taect attacke? they aren't bringing vile tons that part of the world. why is it the universities ted target? we mind our own bringing peace, and look at the american conduct. the only thing more surprising, there haven't been more attacks. >> warmed over thinking.

hearing this all the way back to school. the fact is enemies of jihad are not in any way limited to the united states. the united states is one of several -- i mentioned israel. jews before, and osama bin laden's public announcements, a perpetual war of the jews, and areas of conflict of jihad around the world that don't have anything to do with the united states. kashmir, chechnya is one of them. they believe they have a holy writ for the whole sale slaughter of incidents, something to to do with the united states. even if we were to give glenn what he wishes, no u.s. involvement in the rest of the world, we didn't do any meddling, do we think this would stop? grievances would end? no's in ped scarf bands in france to contend with, making fun of the prophet. cartoons. the people that do things like we saw in boston will never stop their violence, because they believe that it comes from above.

>> and people -- calling from brazil a country that not only hasn't been attacked but never even -- >> glenn -- glenn, i don't mean to cut you off here but we are going to have to end it there. i found the conversation fascinating and wanted to have a portion of it here, but we'll have to pick things up another time. thank you so much. thank you both. he was on the phone from -- brazil. >> we'll continue another time. >> six democrats, one senator. the late ert st to say he won't reelection. and also still to come a milestone for music store, one like no other. how far we've come. you're watching msnbc, the pla is for politics -- and music as well. clients are always learning more

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the mississippi man accused of sending a ricin-laced letter to president obama in court tomorrow. federal agents too many him into custody early yesterday. the 41-year-old martial arts instructor charged with attempting to use a biological wep's. it convicted he faces life in prison. good sunday to you. i'm craig melvin. making news now, a spring thaw and thunderstorm caused dangerous flooding in houston this weekend. dozens of drivers trapped in their cars. firefighters sent out to rescue the motorists. fortunately, no one hurt. celebrations for the swearing-in of a new government in italy cut short today when a gunman opened fire in a crowded scare in rome. authorities say the shooter was targeting politicians but shot and wounded two policemen instead. the gunman, the alleged gunman, was caught and taken into custody. also, overseas, big anniversary for prince william and duchess kate. tomorrow, it will be two years

since they tied the knot. the royal couple are expecting their first child this summer. folk, it's not every day we get to talk to a 5-year-old boy genius. but that's who we have today. an i.q. of 147. a member of one of the world's most exclusive clubs. gus dorman is one of the youngest members at a society that admits really smart people. gus dorman now joining me live from st. louis with his father, robert dorman. good to have goethe of you. how are you? >> good. gus, he's talking to you. >> hello. >> hey, gus, i hear that you've memorized the periodic table and the capitals of countries as well. can i quiz you really quickly? i'm going to take that as as yes. gus, what's the, the symbol for gold? >> au. >> au. an easy one. gold was pretty easy.

what's the capital of liberia. >> what? >> liberia. liberia. >> is he saying -- >> liberia. >> liberia? i don't know. i know the capital of the states and the -- the united states. >> give me the capital of iowa. >> columbia. >> columbus. >> columbus, ohio. you sougthought i said ohio. i said iowa. that's okay. what have they told you about mensa? this is -- fourntly, this is -- >> he's 5 years old. >> he's 5. a boy genius but still a 5-year-old. we sit him on sandbags, too, which probably doesn't help the situation. while we get him situated there, let me turn to you, robert.

talk to me about your son and when you realized he was smarter than the average 5-year-old? >> he's our own kid. so we didn't realize he was what they call gifted. we grew up in -- i grew up in collinsville where he's going to school now. and we -- were camping, and one of the ladies -- gus, stop playing now. one of the ladies with us was surprised he was able to read what was on her -- she has kids. we bring books. she said, he shouldn't be reading that. we started reading about gifted programs. and -- gus. another site and we -- we decided to have him tested so we could try and get him into an online program, and -- i guess that's basically what's going on. >> and is he home schooled or does he go a traditional school? >> okay. no. he was home schooled, you know, until he started preschool and

then he started kindergarten. his birthda is in october. we petitions the school board to get him in early, and we have a really good superintendent, and he built flexibility into it along with our school board. now we're finding out that because he's using an ipad for hyperlearning he is doing second grade applications for, like, home school applications, basically teaching second grade. so he's getting bored in school, which is why we had him tested. now there's no funding for gifted kids. >> and, gus, gus strikes me as the type of 5-year-old that needs to be -- needs to probably be challenged on a regular basis? >> yeah. when you see what he's learning in school, and it's not an indictment against the school district he's got a really good schoolteacher. just the other kids are not at his level and no funding.

i think as a community, it's up to the community to think how to help them. 600 kids admitted early. those kids, like him, a higher i.q. than the other kids. >> you know what? gus, before i let you get out of here, i don't want you to tear apart that studio, what do you want to be when you grow up? have you started thinking about what you want to do, what you want to be when you get older? >> doctor. >> you want to be a doctor. i could see that. >> he wants to be a doctor so that he can figure out how to make kids well without giving them shots. that's what he told me. >> that is a noble goal. >> well, gus, thank you so much for your time. gus dorman, robert dorman. gus, anything want to say before we let you go? any parting words? >> no. >> all right. thank you. >> thank you. >> we have so enjoyed our time

together on knithis sunday afternoon. have a great night. gus and robert. democratic senator, max baucus announced this week he will not be seeking another term in office. he joins a growing list of democrats who will be stepping down. what does that mean for the 2014 midterm elections? we're going to bring in the war room now to try and save this thing. democratic strategist, worked on john edwards presidential campaigns. republican strategist matt, who is political director for george w. bush. let me tell you something that kid's a genius. a genius. >> yeah. now we have to follow the genius. that's great. >> chris, let's start with you. so far this year, six senate democrats have announced they won't be seeking re-election. baucus, tom harkin, tim johnson, j. rockefeller, how concerned are democrats at this point

about losing these seats and consequently control of the senate? >> well, i think it's too early to tell. it's a challenge. any time you have open seats, it stretches your resources. puts more pressure other than fund-raising. look at the last election, the republicans had a similar kind of hope where they thought they would be able to pick up simply because there were so many open seats. in fact it was a disaster for them. he lost seats. so i don't necessarily see the concern manifesting yet. other than one about, we've got to fund raze more. top-tier candidates. in states, we just have better candidates now. the candidates will end up running in some of the ones that just opened up will be very competitive. so montana might be a little more of a challenge. again, i'm not that concerned about it right now. >> what's-o happening here? in some cases it's age. some of these guys are stepping

down. it's not money. they've raised a bucket load of money. what are we seeing at work here? >> who wants to work up there? i mean -- >> yeah. i think that's right. that's right. >> everyone views these jobs, craig, as these really powerful, interesting you're in the center of history, and when it comes down to it, ego feels good, elected in a wonderful white building. when you walk into walmart top dop shopping you get yelled at by the nearest constituent. it's a tough job. i don't think harry reid as the democratic leader has done a particularly good job of building really close relationships. democrats can argue whether or not he's a good leader, but the one thing lacking is his connection with these individual members. as a matter of fact, in the case of max baucus, i think max felt so frustrated about how he was being treated as the chairman of the finance committee, he just decided to take a wahl walk. >> he'd had enough. >> yeah that argument's not credible. i mean, these guys don't -- they

aren't leaving because they're not getting along with a particular member. they're leaving maybe for personal reasons, whatever. spend more time with their families. the biggest obstacle right now is it's not a fun place to work. it is more divisive. i saw it firsthand. more polarize, incredibly difficult to get things done because the party thinks it compromise is a four-letter word. >> no. >> i think there's a dilemma. >> look at max baucus, for instance, he didn't even vote for the gun control bill that harry reid wanted to push. what you're actually seeing a a little more independence from folks and i think it comes down to relationships are part of it. no question that relationships between democrats and republicans have frayed, as people get on the nearest flight to get out of town and don't hang out with each other as much, don't build friendship, families aren't friends. you have an example of a democratic leader in the senate doing a terrible job of convincing his senior democrats to run for re-election. >> it does seem a little

farfetched to suggest all of these resignations or a significant portion of those, are because they don't get along well with h reid. >> no, no. let me restate it. >> three decades -- >> let me restate it. >> it's ridiculous. >> restate it. >> let me restate it. i don't think harry vooreid is doing a good job of convincing them to give it another shot. republicans, say they do the recruiting to pick up states like west virginia and montana. there's no question republicans feel a lot more optimism when they see senior-level democrats deciding to hang up their cleats. >> talk about massachusetts for a second, chris. the special election takes thas police week, filling john kerry's seat. a group is a are the positiving stephen lynch release add robocall linking the boston marathon bombing to the campaign. quote, all of us share the shock and sorrow of the recent events in boston, but as americans

we're not going to let the perpetrators of this tragedy or anyone else stop our democracy from moving forward." wouldn't it be great to have a real working person representing you in the senate? lynch denounced the calls. how damaging could it be to even appear to be profiting from the boston marathon bombings? >> pretty -- pretty damaging. this about at bone-headed a political move i have ever seen in politics. the robocall, the messages is nonsensical. there's no logic to the argument. so i think what it ends up, you have here, two guys, obviously, whoever wins the democratic primary will be the senator from massachusetts. it gets nasty near the end. especially certain groups in this case favoring one candidate over the other, but this is -- this is pretty bad, and it's probably going to hurt him at least in the margins. i think at the end of the day, mark will win relatively comfortable, but this does not help lynch's chances.

>> on the flip side, one of the republican candidates, a former s.e.a.l., ran the marathon and finished moments before the explosion. he's been talking about his experience on the campaign trail. is that something would you advise? >> it all key pendepends on ton. when somebody using a robocall and feel like to be reaching to make a point shows desperation, that they're in a politically weakened condition. mr. gomez can explain his role and what happened on that terrible day in a way people think it's consistent with people trying to pull together, come together, after a terrible tragedy, then it's okay. on the republican side, the more likely nominee will be mike sullivan. generic poll, ten points behind markey if he gets the nomination in a democratic seat. i don't think republicans are overconfident in this race but think they're in the mix.

>> a generic prurepublican sn n running. >> that's a cheap shot. >> out of time. timed it women. >> kel. >> thanks for helping us bounce back from the segment before. >> either one of us are members of mensa. >> the two non-mensa members. >> three non-mensa members. and a look back, when the music industry changed forever. first, though, moment highlight from last night's correspondents' dinner. >> so, yes, maybe i have lost a step, but some things are beyond my control. for example, this whole controversy about jay-z going to cuba. it's unbelievable. i've got 99 problems and now jay-z's one. your day to unplu.

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♪ today itunes celebrates its tenth anniversary. launched in 2003, just 200,000 songs selling for 99 cents revolutionizing the music industry. noorn 1 million songs sold in the first week. the top selling song that year you ask? outcast's "hey ya." $25 billion way b. flash back to 1986 when the world finally learned about a meltdown of the chernobyl nuclear plant two days after it happened. here's how "nbc nightly news" told the story. >> reporter: first word something was wrong came from sweden. workers routinely checked for radiation checking the power plant. levels slightly higher than

normal. officials feared a leak. south, a swedish station also reported higher than normal radiation levels, and shortly thereafter another in helsinki, finland. radiation coming from 750 miles away. at chernobyl in the soviet union, scene of four big nuclear reactors. a terse announcement picked up from roop mass cow. >>. >> an accident at the nuclear power plant's in yukraine. >> chernobyl released several times the radiation of the atomic bombs dropped on hiroshima and nagasaki in world war ii. many suffered sickness from cancer and radiation long after the exposure. the area around the plant known as the exclusion zone so heavily contaminateed scientists estimate it will be uninhabitable for about 20,000

years. still to come, the taliban is on the move. how will this year's spring offensive affect next year's drawdown of troops. and on shelves, amanda knox finds herself facing the potential of going back to jail. we'll talk about that. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. the doctor put me on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. go talk to your doctor. you're not indestructible anymore.

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in a memoir being wree leased next week called waiting to be heard, amanda knox speaks out about her ordeal. knox describes about thinking about suicide and fending off guards in the italian prison where she spent four years for murdering her roommate was overturned. despite the acquittal italy's court has jumped in and says she could face a new trial. ann, also goways good to see yo. ann says she has no plans to go back to italy for a new trial. on the "today" show her attorney

ed simon explained why. >> we can view this as an american might look at it as an american case. we must look at it through the system in italy. it's simply not required. and ultimately there's no reason to believe that anything else will happen except another not guilty since there was no new evidence. >> since there's no new evidence and she doesn't need to go back, why is this case being revisited? >> it's always great to see you. that's a great question. we have to think of two words, double jeppy. she would never be retried in the u.s. after an acquittal. it's a little different over there. it's a lot different really. one of the things you have to look at, this was a procedural reversal reportedly because the government was not allowed to retest the evidence denovo.

it's inabsentia, you know all that. it well be and should be an acquittal. it's procedural. >> why write the book? with the case still ongoing could the book be potentially dangerous? yes and no. we came around and turned around a super tanker of information for amanda knox. she really has nothing to hide. she testified in the first trial, and on the despz novo appeal she was heard from what else would she say? how would she hurt herself? i don't know what exactly is in the book. the facts are out there and the facts set her free when she was acquitted. >> so you haven't read the book yet. >> i've seen excerpts and i'm looking forward to reading the whole thing. the bottom line is we know what she's going to say what happened

the nightmare dikt w meredith w >> what is she saying? >> i think she was so naive in this case. she's grown up, matured, she has great family, a lot of support. she knows she's inolsen and has been a lot more aggressive as time's gone on in terms of her innocence. she's at the university of washington, has a boyfriend, she's studying of all things creative writing, which helped, i'm shir, her write this book. she's confident and she's strong. one thing i say is the precedent follow her in seattle, they don't interview. they all agreed, believe it or not, to completely leave her alone and they have since she came home. >> ann brener, thanks so much for you time. >> thanks so much. coming up we'll take a look at the congressional race in south carolina. what it means for the balance of power in that critical state. also what it could mean for the

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[ male announcer ] in a clinical study, over 80% of treated men had their t levels restored to normal. talk to your doctor about all your symptoms. get the blood tests. change your number. turn it up. androgel 1.62%. good sunday afternoon. you're watching msnbc. the place for hole ticks. as the hawks hit the hard on the redline in syria. >> there are a number of caches of these chemical weapons. they cannot fall in the hands of jihadists. >> it's going to be al qaeda the safe haven. >> to talk like that, can we stay out of syria, or do we have an obligation to get in involved? >> and so my question for you, nancy, is where do you stand on nlrb? let me say that again, nancy. where do you stand on nlrb.

mark sanford, the candidate for congress, the question for republicans there, do they wrach their arms around him or keep him at arm's length? we'll talk about that. and the stars descended on washington last night. they cut it up at the white house correspondent dinner. >> one thing they all agree on is they need to do a better job of reaching out. look. call me self-centered but i can think of one minority they could start with. >> new questions being raised after discovery of a possible wire tap conversation intercepted by the russians between one of the suspects in the boston bombing case and his mother. here's what the house intelligence committee member told adam a fi hours ago. >> i tlirng was a wire intercept which is the basis why the

russians provided this lead to us. we don't have much more on that and my guess is the russians do. >> meanwhile hundreds are gathered at a memorial in copley square right now to remember the victims of the bombing. there are at least 27 patients still in boston hospitals. one person is still in critical condition. michelle franzen is in boston on this sunday afternoon. michelle, what's happening behind you right now? >> reporter: well, it's a steady flow as we saw yesterday, craig. it's a beautiful view on this sunday where everyone wants to come down to copley square to this makeshift memorial. they're coming down to read notes, lay flowers, and have a community gathering with each other, talking about everyday things in life and talking about the bombing that occurred two weeks ago. the investigation is moving at rapid speed with investigators checking leads here and also looking into leads your seas at

the same time, craig. >> there are new questions being raised about the mother of the suspects. what do we know about that? >> reporter: well, of course, investigators have been focused on her for the last week. certainly they want to know what her connection to any of the ties may be. she has, of course, been adamant about not being tied to anything. and even though she was added to the u.s.'s government database, being on that database is not proof of any terrorism activity. so they're looking at that. they're also looking at other possible leads, the russian intel that they've been received and they're trying to weigh that against what they're learning on the ground against the two suspects. >> michelle franzen for us in boston. thank you. the fwanl has promised to launch its spring offensive in afghanistan starting today. the group says it will step up attacks on foreign military bases and diplomatic posts and

it quickly kept that promise. three afghan police officers were killed today by a roadside bomb. ron mott is live. ron, how is this different than years past? >> reporter: hey, there, craig. the taliban has once again issued this announcement that they're going to do this. what's different about this one is that there is so much writing on this particular fighting season for a number of seasons. one, just a year from now there are presidential scheduled elections in this country and the government would like to have an overriding sense of stability that would perhaps lead to confidence to the people that live here that may result in a healthy, hardy turnout for the elections. also next year u.s. forces and coalitions are expected to complete their withdrawal of comb

combat troops and in a couple of months the afghans are supported to resume the full leadership of the country. right now they're in control of 90% of the country. they're expected to get the rest of it by the end of this summer. of course, this has been a very deadly month throughout afghanistan. the a.p. is reporting 478 fatalitie fatalities. almost half insurgents but a fair number of civilians but the overriding fear is as the temperatures get warmer, we're going to see fight pick up and it's not only going to be daylight fighting operation but more a 24/7 fighting operation. >> in addition to the death of the officers there was the deadly plane crash. what more can you tell us about the loss of the four american servicemembers. >> what isaf is saying right now is there were no reports of any enemy activity in the area. right now they don't know what

the cause is. they're investigating. these were air force members. their identities have not been released publicly, craig. >> ron mott, be safe, my friend. to the political headlines, the surviving suspect of the boston bombings remains at a prison facility today. they were critical of how quickly he was read his miranda rights last week. >> do you have any suspicion that anything valuable was lost in the mirandizing? >> well, we won't know because now his lawyers aren't allowing him to say anything. there could have been. it would have been worth the effort to stretch this out a few more hours to see what we could find. flights should be back on time after congress pass add bill on friday allowing faa to bring back furloughed workers. the suspension had been due. while it's a welcome fix for travelers senator john mccain warned there are other see

question station cuts that need immediate attention as well. >> well, i say with all due respect to my friends, it's a little bit hypocritical on the same day when all of the focus was on the delays we had of getting through errants the chief of staff of the united states army was saying that if we don't reverse this, we're going to have a hollow army, we'll be unable to defend the nation, and it would take us 10 or 15 years to recover. president obama's under pressure to determine what action to take with regard to syria now that intelligence shows they have used chemical weapons. missouri senator claire mccaskill explained this morning some of the complications with regard to determining what to do next. >> what we don't know is we don't have a conclusive chain of evidence at this point as to where the weapon -- where the order came from. was this a rogue guy that decided do this, or was this truly a decision by the

government in syria to implement the use. >> there are new calls from lawmakers today for quick action, quick u.s. action. among them, he told cbs the united states should not wait any longer to act. >> the world is watching. we've got 70,000 dead people in that part of the world as a result of bashar al assad. we as america have never let anything like that happen before. we've taken action before. p.j. crowley is with us. do you believe they've done enough to stop this crisis from escalating. >> i think we understand this is tragedy and everyone wants to do something about it but the question is what can we do that will have an immediate impact on the ground. i think a red line has been crossed with these increasingly credible reports of the use of

sarin gas within syria, but i think the administration should take a little bit of time, you know, to strengthen the evidence and then use that to achieve international consensus of international action within syria. >> let's talk about some of the possible courses of action. i had david on about an hour ago with reuters, and you know david and his story. >> yep. >> he mentioned that basically military -- military operation and expansive military operation isn't necessarily our only option. what else could we be looking at? i'm not sure it's a desirable observation. nobody supports boots on the ground. some talked again about a no-fly zone but that's really a different problem and it may well emerge that's something that can be done depending on what's on the ground. i think you have to look at political action in the meantime and one desirable objection

would be to get the u.n. more immediately involved in syria. bients pushed to the sidelines for a couple of years because of russia and china finding a way to use this information, this evidence, to try to break that log jam within the security council. perhaps have syrian cooperation on the ongoing u.n. investigation and try to look at some sort of protection regime that prevents these chemical weapons, but by being used or stolen by anybody in this conflict. >> bashir al assad is the devil that we know in syria. the more we seem to be finding out about some of these groups and their connections to extreme islamic faith, jihad. the more we learn about some of these groups, the more trouble these folks are becoming. what can you tell us about the

rebel factions? >> sure. syria is providing a rebel comeback not only by al qaeda but some other groups that have very extremist views. if there's a silver lining here, syria itself as a society has been very secular oriented. and unfortunately in this ongoing tragedy with 70, 80,000 people killed. it's fractioned along ethic and lines. the united states has spent a great deal of time and energy trying to make this opposition more cohesive, trying to connect the political and military opposition but there's going to have to be sorting on the ground to separate the religious fanatics that are using this as a target of opportunity from those who actually govern the country if and when bashir al assad falls. >> is nonlethal aid, is it having a measurable impact

there? >> i think it has the potential for that. the united states is providing nonlethal aid. other countries are providing more lethal assistance. they're making the free syrian army more effective. it is able to, you know, hold more territory, but obviously its strength is not yet enough to overcome the strengths of the regime. >> former assistant secretary of state p.j. crowley. p.j., thank you. always a pleasure, sure. >> all right, craig. south carolina showdown. mark sanford, elizabeth colbert bush. the political world is watching very closely. we'll have a preview. and six months after superstorm sandy crushed the coast they're trying to rebuild for summer. i'll talk with the major coming up here live on msnbc. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms.

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every married couple out there, every divorced couple out there, there are going to be a lot of judgment call use make along the way where you say this is in the best interest of our boys or our daughter, and you make that decision as best you can. some are going to be right. some are going to be wrong. >> that was mark sanford responding to allegations about trespassing at his ex-wife's home back in february. it's been up and down for the former governor who will meet his oh opponent elizabeth colbert bush tomorrow face to face in a debate. they're running for a spot vee indicated by dick scott. walter wetzel is a republican counsel who is a senior adviser to rick perry. good to see you both.

thanks for being here. >> thank you. >> walter, let me start with you. at this point, what's the likelihood that sanford manages to pull this thing out? >> i think the leanings of this district are so overwhelmingly republican that he's got a very good shot. he's got a tough row to hoe, i think. i think some of the personal issues that he's had to address but i hold out that a lot of things could happen. >> dick, how much of a role has the personal stuff played in the race down there? >> it's not just the personal stuff, the divorce stuff, but the memories of a guy who left office having been caught on

spending money on an argentinian mistress. this is a disdistrict where they beat barack obama by 20 points. it's a very, very close race, but, you know, i've got faith in the people of south carolina. believe there are enough folks in the first district that are going to wake up on election day and say we need to send this guy home, keep him in retirement, send him to argentine, but not to washington. >> why only one debate. >>? >> because she realizes as i do that this is the best lie to camera i've seen in a lifetime. he can look right in the camera and say the moon is made of cheese and it sounds believable. this is a guy that's lied to camera so many times it's going

to be tough to nail him down when he's so slippery. why would she do that when she can go out and meet voters. this is going to be a close race. she's got nothing to gain by debating with him. he spend tens of thousands of dollars of our money, our taxpayer money on himself. so i mean he says one thing and does something else. ask jenny sanford. >> walter, the spectacle last week, governor sanford, debating the cardboard cutout of nancy pelosi, what was that about? >> here's what it was about. it's pretty simple, i think. the busch campaign have made a very concerted effort and decision to have a four-corners-style offense and run the clock out on this race, and the result of that has been to give mark sanford a platform to frame this debate about

something other than mark sanford's personal peack a dell lows. this is in the end a conservative versus a liberal. it is pretty simple. we can argue whether it's gimmicky or a stunt of some sort, i suppose. but her decision has given him that platform to pitch this. >> walter, right after the trespassing controversy, the nation ol' gop stopped sending funds to mark sanford and they said in part, quote, mark sanford has proven that he knows what it takes to win elections. at this time the nrcc will not be engaged in this special election. does the state gop believe that sanford has a good shot there? >> perhaps, but the essence of the statement is exactly true. mark sanford has a long history of winning here. he has relied on the attributes

that just suggested in a positive light, i think, and here's the only danger of the congressional committees pulling out is i completely agree with dick's assessment of this race. this is going to be a close race. it shouldn't be this close. nikki haley won in 2010. mitt romney got 55%. this is not an even fair fight as it were. it's close because mark sanford has some unique personal issues. >> we're going to have to leave it there. walter whetsell and dick harpootlian. good to see you. up next, more correspondents' dinners like this one from the lead over the free world. >> of course, even after i do all this, some folks still don't think i spend enough time with congress. why don't you get a drink with

mitch mcconnell they ask. really? why don't you get a drink with mitch mcconnell.

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he's the one that got fired from the tonight show, is that right. >> yes, then he went over to cbs. >> we're trying to rebrand, appeal to the youngsters. >> i'm sorry. conan is the best we can do. >> fine. as long as you don't put pelosi at your table. >> she keeps trying to friend me through facebook. >> a little "house of cards" spoof. the president offered thoughts and prayers to people from west, texas, to boston and gave a special shout-out to journalists covering the tragedy. >> if anybody wonders whether newspapers are a thing of the

past, awe you needed to do was pick up or log on to papers like "the boston globe." when their communities and the wider community needed them most, they were there, making sense of events that might at first blush be seen beyond our comprehension, and that's what great journalism is and what great journalists do. that's why pete williams' new nickname around the newsroom is big papi. >> it's been recently said don't mess with boston. as somebody who grew up there, i can say it. if you're going to ping a big city don't pick one where nine of ten people are related to a cop. sandy, six months latter, the jersey shore is trying to clean up in time firefighter the

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[ male announcer ] at visa signature, every upgraded experience comes from listening to our cardholders. visa signature. your idea of what a card should be. the man who took that famous flag to the top of iwo jima has died. he was 90 years old. at the time he was a 19-year-old. he was asked to find the biggest flag. he and others raised that flag in a stirring moment which has since become an iconic american image. i'm craig melvin. here are some of the other top stories. officials in bangladesh have arrested the owner of a building that collapsed last week. at least 77 people died when the eight-story building came down. the death toll is expected to

rise, but rescuers are remarkably still pulling people alive from the rubble. officials say the building was illegally constructed, and its owner will likely be charged with negligence. conrad murray was found guilty. now his family is sued aeg live, the promoter for the singles concert tour. they're expected to find that they're responsible for jackson's death because they hired dr. murray. well, it's the very first summer after hurricane sandy. six months after it devastated the jersey shore. and even though significant progress has been made since then, at least 39,000 new jersians remain displaced from their homes. hundreds of businesses are still closed. mayors of shore communities across the region are hoping the summer rush will bring the economy back. there may be some hope there.

new jersey's governor chris christie wants to have every board walk fixed before memorial day weekend. mayor johnson, it's always good to see you. you're at a film festival in los angeles and taking economic business meetings. a little business, a little pleasure. what's going on at asbury park right now? >> first, good afternoon. i think we're making tremendous progress in asbury park. we weren't hit as hard as other communities but we still took a punch. our boardwalk is prepare and we're getting our beaches and businesses back up and running and we're preparing for one of the best summers yet we're going have at the jersey shore. >> what are the challenges, the short-term and the longer term challenges. >> well, of course, the summer

season at the jersey shore is our bread and butter. so we have a lot of mom and pop businesses that really make their livelihood from the summer season, and we're trying to get them open and at the same time, we're trying to get our employees back employed. we have thousands of businesses, just mom and pop businesses, that suffered damages and are closed, and so we're trying to get them back up and running, employees back to work, and people back in the doors of those business. >> 39,000. that really is an eye-popping number when you hear it out loud. that's the number of folks who are still homeless in the state of new jersey. why are so many people still not able to go home yet? >> well, you know, i think we're in the third phase of what i call the third phase of the storm. we had the storm itself, the devastation, phase two was really garnered trying to gather the resources for the storm. and phase three is really trying

to connect people with the resources. we have people living in gutted homes. we have people that now have to raise their homes eight feet in the air. how do you do that? we're talking about $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 to raise your house, and how do you get access to those assets or financial capital to do that? so we have a lot of people just trying to get back into their homes. we're not talking about second homes. we're not talking about vacation homes. we're talking about your actual home where you live. >> how would you characterize the response so far, the government's response? i remember the last time you had a conversation you weren't thrilled to say the least with the response. has that changed? >> let me say two things. sandy has taught us who we can absolutely count on, how the people of new jersey and the america people came together. but it also raised some

questions on who we can't count on. and we learned that we could not count on congress. we had to count on ourselves. we had to count on our state. our governor chris christie provided excellent leadership throughout the storm and is now helping to lead the way in our recovery efforts. we have a lot of work to do. but we've learned one thing, that we need to count on ourselves, we need to count on our communities, and we need to count on each other as new jersians. >> good to see you. i should let folks know that "morning joe" is going to be live from asbury park tomorrow morning at 6:30 eastern looking at the progress made in that region six months after sandy. well, it seems that washington worked in remarkably pass v speed, all of this coming in the wake of sequester cuts that left passengers and lawmakers we should note

stranded in airports the for hours last week. but what about all of the other cuts? arizona congressman john mccain commented about that this morning. take a listen. >> i think we have our priorities skewed here. i've for given the faa. i want to give them flexibility and the air force. i don't want the cuts to be as steep as they are on national defense. >> the brain trusts are here. you are the second guest we've had today on the broadcast from the blaze. this is the first. >> fantastic. we are taking over. >> probably a mistake but it's good to have you nonetheless. let's talk about the sequester for a second. this really has a lot of folks up in arms. congress, again, not knowing toing at with any sort of speed

on anything ever and all of a sudden last week when they started hearing from folks who had been stuck on tarmacs for a few hours or stuck in airport terminals for longer than they'd like, all of a sudden the house and senate move like that. go ahead. >> now we know they're capable of it. >> they've been holding back. >> right. but you have to ask what about the kids on head start, what about the people in cancer clinics, what about the other people in the sequester who are not -- don't have the ear of congress. congress themselves, the members of congress themselves are not affected by this. they clearly acted out of self-interest when -- >> you mean they didn't want to stand in lines when they went home for recess? >> unfortunately because the president signaling he was going to sign this, he lost his last bit of leverage. so he's lost a major bargaining chip when it come doings these senseless cuts. >> bob and amy, you raise an interesting point about the president. i want to share something that

was actually said on air. this was from glen rush on politico. stands through needy children. he could have vetoed it from the home of a jobless worker who just saw her benefits cut. democrats could simply have insisted the powerful can't get out of sequestration unless the powerless can too but they did not and have showed no signs that they will start. what can we make of that? >> sorry. >> go ahead, bob. >> i think what we have to remember here is that the travel industry and the airlines are big, big political contributors. so this was not exactly an act of bravery on the part of congress. and for that matter, the president, in allowing this to go through. but let's not be totally ungrateful here. we can now go back to the normal routine where all flights are on time and flying is this wonderful experience we've come to expect. >> what were you about to say?

craig, i was about to say we did see the president try to demagogue the sequester before the actual vote. he did try to trot out all of these special interest groups and warn that we were going to somehow descend into it. here's something you can never explain. it never made sense that current employees or current program participants would be cut. we're talking about growth into the future. there are reports that these threatened furloughs aren't happening. >> this is what has happened. no one wanted them. republicans didn't really want them. >> well, they didn't want different parts. republicans wants some cuts. democrats wants some cuts and they were supposed to cancel each other out. >> no one thought it was a good idea of collecting the whole of them and now all of a sudden the sequesters cuts are starting to take effect and the only time congress has decided to act is when something like this happ

happened. >> when it's their button line. >> exactly. i was going to say he had questions. he spoke about airlines and defense but there was not a word about meals on wheels or cancerer er. and children and head start would be cut back. so i think there's really a priority that's based on political clout and that's it. >> i think you raise an interesting point. i think this does seem to be another one of the myriad examples of washington, d.c. >> that was cute. we're fwouk to take a break. after we come back we'll switch gears. american intelligence said things would change. we all remember that, but is the boston bombing investigation revealing that the same lack of communicationplagues the

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i don't think i'll ever go back to another product. see. this week marks the two-year anniversary of the death of osama bin laden. americans have remained as vigilant as ever in the wake of the boston bombing as well. the question we ask now is are we any safer now than we were two years ago. the brain trust is back. bob, i want to start with you. in the wake of 9/11 much was made of things not being passed. this is lindsey graham. take a listen. >> it's a failure to share information and missing obvious warning signs. we're going back to the pre9/11 stovepiping. >> he's saying they might not be as advanced as we would all like

to think that it is. bob, what exactly do we know about the state of our intelligence sharing in this couny? >> well, it's dismal obviously. we just saw another demonstration of it. obviously the war on terrorism is fierce, but nothing is as fierce in washington as the turf battle, and that's what i think is still going on. it's really hard to undo a culture that has gone on for decades. >> and that's all this is about. so it's just about the turf battle or is there more play here? >> well, it appears to be. the department of homeland security was created after 9/11 for the very purpose of smashing these agencies together, bringing down those information walls so that the fbi and cia could talk to each oh. now we discover that the russian intelligence continue tacted both the fbi and later the cia and we hear zsa z. hear janet napolitano talking. >> we don't know what we're missing.

we don't know if he actually had contact with foreign national groups. at this point all we heard is they learned how to make bombs from the internet. so it's possible there was overseas training but we don't know what intelligence was missed yet and we know they dropped the ball by not responding to the request for more information. >> the very fact that we were flagged and we don't know the answer of whether or not he got training in chechnya, that's a huge failure. we should know. >> bob, as we learn more, it doesn't seem to -- again, you know, after 9/11, it's the same case. it's not as though we don't have a lot of the information. it seems as if we've got so much information and so many people with access to this information that there's this bizarre bur u bureaucratic mess that perhaps prevents us from being able to synthesize the information and process the information. >> one of the problems was, for instance, to show how trivial it could be is things were stymied

because a name was misspelled at one point. you have these rigid bureaucracies that are unable to yield anything and you wind up with this kind of problem. you have an intelligence community that does great p.r. you know, we're conditioned to believe that these people are intellectual super people and we find out they're tripped up over the most trivial thing. >> this morning on "meet the press" peter king talked about we needed more. congressman keith ellison who is muslim responded. >> these terrorists, they've just got to get through once. and so i mean the fact is on an everyday basis, i feel really good about our nation's law enforcement, but the fact is there will come a time when we hook back and say what lessons could be learned, what should have been done differently. >> what lessons can be learned in the future to identify how terrorists are identified? >> i think we need to see the

fact that there was a great op-ed in "the new york times." they were not as radicalized as they want. so if peter king wants to monitor american mosques, many pushed back at tamerlan tsarnaev's radicalism you. don't need to be in a community. you can find out about all of this through the internet. it's no longer mediated through anything we know about. >> what we do know is that here in new york city, for example, they work very closely with the muslim community and there is this active outreach effort. not to an tag nice the muslim community but bring them in. it's these outliers and deev yamts. as you mentioned, he was kicked out of his mosque. so how can boston work with members members to identify. >> he said he's pretty convinced there are more persons of

interest out there. take a listen to this. >> there was outside affirmation of their intent to commit an act of jihad. i believe that happened in the united states. we still have persons of interest that we're working to find and identify and have conversations with. >> are you saying ten or fewer in. >> i didn't say that. i didn't give a number. i do think there are persons of interest. >> bob, what kind of danger does that stand if people try to take matters in their own hand and profile people that may be helpful to authorities? >> first of all, we know there's one person of interest. we heard the name me shah. he would certainly be a person of interest. the problem with everybody getting involved in this is you end up with a vigilante situation where harm is made. >> we're going to take a quick break. i know at least two of you spent

time watching the white house correspondents dinner. we'll talk about that. and we'll talk about what this has turned into. it's quite skeptical -- you know what i mean. the place for politics. everybody has different investment objectives,

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i understand second term you need a burst of new energy. i understand we would try anything so we borrowed one of michelle's tricks. >> the brain trust is back. i irin, bob, amy. did you see it? >> actually, i did. i dvr'd it. i set it for march of the penguins, and there it was. referring, of course, to those

who don't know, it's black tie affair. >> did you see it? >> i did watch it. i thought you did a masterful job. >> oh, that was very nice. >> i thought some of the jokes were a little tired and i was shocked to see scalia sitting next to bill o'reilly. it thought that was really inappropria inappropriate. it was quite bizarre. >> wasn't that unusual? >> you're suh suging i watched i. i watched bbc detectives and tonight i'll watch "game of thrones." >> you never watch it? >> i must confess i attended it many, many times. i went one year with my mother and taking her and i will never

forget her being swoped onto the dance floor. >> michael isikoff. >> michael isikoff. >> dancing. find the video. we'll put that on the air next week. bob, you've been to a few of these things and you've konked them for years now. how has it's involved or perhaps devolved over the years? >> i also dvr'd "game of thrones" and came up with the white house correspondents' dinner. it used to be this funky affair and you came in a black tie affair and you talked with those you always talk. now you have the hollywood groupies and the washington. it has very lit doll with washington tradition. >> it actually has a red carpet now. >> it's covered. i mean and every year the

coverage becomes -- you know, back in the day you can only catch it on c-span. now we cover it. a lot of the online folks stream it. >> maybe joan rivers will be there asking who they're wearing. >> i tlink were two, joan rivers. >> and wanda sykes. >> that's right. but the fact that we haven't seen more female hostesses is something else that's unusual. what other optics did you find a tad bizarre besides the o'rei y o'reilly/scalia scream. >> you had katie perry and the duck guy. the year i went was 2009. jon hamm, kim kardashian. >> and who can forget a

kardashian. >> i felt like this year some of the jokes were a little bit tired. look. people like to feel important. they like to feel special. my favorite line of the year was when ed henry said he was trying hard to make sure the journalists got invited. >> the problem with this dinner and certainly for outsiders and conservatives is this chumminess, this smug self-satisfaction between are reporters and the important people they cover. i went to that 2009 dinner. the line he used with the audience, he said most of you covered me and all of you voted for me and the whole audience burst into laughter like the village idiots who got slapped with a rubber chicken. >> we should know when it's a republican in the white house it's the same naval gating. your saturday nights are fascinating. that's going to do it for me. i'm craig melvin. thanks so much for spending a

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